Clato Fanfiction: We Were Born To Die
by HutchersonLudwig
Summary: Clove was the only one who knew the real Cato and Cato was the only one who knew the real Clove. See what happens when the two have to go into the Hunger Games together and hide their friendship/relationship from the world.. Good&Bad Reviews are great!
1. Chapter 1

CATO POV

My eyes open slowly and I stretch my arm out to soon find out that I'm alone. I sit up and look around. My windows open, curtains blowing from the breeze. I guess Clove decided to leave in the middle of the night. I wonder where she went. I stretch and throw my blankets off of me. As I start to walk downstairs, I remember what today is. The reaping. I take a deep breath and make my way over to the fridge. I guess thats why Clove left. Her nerves probably took over. Although Clove isn't the type to get nervous, I know that she does sometimes over the games or possibly going into them. Maybe she decided to get in some last minute training, theres always that possibility of getting chosen and no one volunteers for you (even though thats hardly ever the case here in District 2). Maybe it could be that she's nervous for me. I'm volunteering today. I've trained since I was 7 and I am now 18. It's my last chance to volunteer to go into the games. I've known Clove since I was 5. She's a year younger than me so we were never in the same classes at school. We live 2 houses away from each other, we always train together. Our parents are also really good friends, they're all peacekeepers, we barely get to see them. They're probably home about 100 days out of the year. Our lives are sort of the same. I don't have any siblings and neither does she. We were both raised as an only child. We used to be with each other everyday too. So I guess you can say she's like a sister to me… wait no don't say that. That would be weird because we're friends with benefits. We started the whole "friends with benefits" thing about a few months ago. We promised each other we wouldn't develop real feelings for each other and that it was just strictly sex/kissing. But what I haven't told her is that I actually have developed feelings for her. I know if we were ever in a real relationship and then we broke up it would probably ruin our friendship forever. I don't think I would be able to handle not having her in my life anymore. So I'll just have to deal with the fact that we'll never be together. I took a sip of my orange juice and thats when I heard a knock at the door. I got up and opened it, to see Clove standing there. She was wearing a dark green dress. Her hair was in a braid and she looked absolutely beautiful. I smiled and said "Hey, thanks for leaving me" with a laugh. She laughed a little too and walked inside. "I'm sorry, just last minute nerves" she replied. Knew it. She would never tell anyone else that she was nervous, only me. She wouldn't want to come off weak to other people. But believe me, she is the total opposite of weak. I sat back down and she sat across from me. "Aren't you going to get ready? The reaping's in 20 minutes" she said. I glanced at the clock. I didn't even realize that it was almost 1:00 already. I got up once again and went up to my room. I changed into a maroon dress shirt and nice, black pants that used to be my father's. I gelled up my hair and buttoned my shirt. I looked in the mirror and gave myself a smile. I looked around my room, taking it all in. This just might be the last time I see my room. I shook that thought out of my head and whispered to myself, "I am going to win". I went back downstairs and Clove was still sitting at the table. "Well you took a long time. We got to be there in 5 minutes. We should start walking" she said as she got up from her chair. I nodded and followed her out the door. I closed it behind us and we were on our way. I turned my head and looked back at our tiny little neighborhood. "I'll be in the Victor's Village soon" I thought to myself. I glanced at Clove beside me and she looked as nervous as ever. She looked very pale and her hands were shaking at her sides. "Clove are you okay?" I asked her. She nodded and said "I'm fine, don't worry about me" with a very visible fake smile. I sighed and kept on walking. I have a really bad feeling that something terrible is going to happen. After walking a while, we finally made it to the town square. I gave Clove a big hug and said "May the odds be ever in your favor, Clove". She laughed a little and said "You too". We hugged each other and then went to stand with our age groups. We were just in time, they showed that stupid film from the Capitol that they show every year and then they went on to pick the male tribute. Arnold, the District 2 escort, shouted his name but I couldn't hear it over my own thoughts. I push my way to the aisle and yell "I volunteer as tribute!" before anyone else could. This was my time, no one was going to ruin it for me. "Okay, well I guess we have a volunteer this year!" Arnold said into the microphone. The peacekeepers escorted me to the stage and I walked up the steps. "And whats your name?" Arnold asked me. "Cato. Cato Ludwig." I said into the microphone. "Well congratulations Cato! Lets hear it for District 2's male tribute, Cato!" he yelled. There were some claps and some just stared blankly at me. "Okay now for the female tribute" he says. He makes his way over to the glass ball containing the girls' names. He picked one and made his way back to the microphone. He peeled off the tape and opened the little slip of paper. "Clove Fuhrman!" he says. My stomach drops and I'm praying that someone volunteers but it doesn't happen. I'm literally on the verge of tears but I can't let anyone see that. I don't want to come off as weak. Theres nothing I can do. I guess I'm going in the games with my best friend.

CLOVE'S POV

My mouth drops open a bit and my hands start to shake at my sides like they were before. The other girls my age make an opening for me to make my way to the stage. I step out into the aisle and the peacekeepers escort me. I go up the steps slowly and Arnold yells "Our tributes for District 2, Cato Ludwig and Clove Fuhrman!" there's few claps and then we have to shake hands. As we shake, I look up at Cato. His eyes look like they're filling with tears which only makes mine do the same. We let go and we're soon escorted to separate rooms where we'll get to meet with our families before we go to the Capitol. My parents come and say their goodbyes to me and soon, times up. My eyes fill up with tears once again as I see them walk out the door. I suck it up and decide to see if I could sneak over to Cato's room. I try to open the door and it is quickly shut by a peacekeeper. I sigh and sit down on a chair. I sit there for probably about 15 minutes until 2 peacekeepers come and take me to a car that will escort me to the train that we'll be going on. Soon enough, we arrive at the train station and Arnold takes me to my room. "Take a shower and when you're done, we'll watch the reaping's from the other districts. Hurry hurry" he says to me as he closes my door behind him. I sighed and looked around my room. There was a huge closet, which seemed pretty stupid to me since we're only going to be on this train for a the rest of the night and a little bit tomorrow. There was tons of buttons next to it too. I walked into the bathroom to see a shower much like the one I have at home. I take off my clothes and start the shower. I step into the shower and pour some shampoo into my hand. As I massage it into my hair, I start to think. What if it comes down to me and Cato? Would he kill me? Would I even have the courage to kill him? We definitely won't be able to show our friendship in the arena, the other tributes would use that against us. We'll probably form an alliance with the District 1 tributes. District 1 & 2 always team up every year. I finish up my shower and wrap a towel around me. I change into a black v-neck and khakis that were in my closet. I put on my black flats that I wore to the reaping too. I go into the main room but no one is there yet. I decide to try and find Cato. I guess his room is next to mine. I knock on the door and I hear his voice yell "What!" between little sniffles. It sounds like he was crying. I take a deep breath and open the door. He stands up quickly and I shut the door behind me. He pulls me to him and hugs me as tight as he can. I hug him back, trying to hold in my tears. "Cato, everything's going to be okay" I try to comfort him. I rub his back and I can just feel him trying to hold in his tears. He finally lets go of me and I see that his cheeks are wet with tears . Soon enough, I start to cry. He hugs me again and we stay in that position for a long time until we're called to go watch the other reapings. He lets go of me and says "Everything's gonna be okay. We'll figure it out", looking at me with a half smile. I stand up and walk out behind him. Even though I've known Cato since I was 4, I've never seen Cato like that before. He's probably never seen me like that either. You know, crying. We're both not the type to show pain, emotion or mercy. We were both brought up that way. Cato doesn't know that I only cry over the ones I love. I've never actually loved someone before, just my family. In a non- romantic way obviously. When I turned 16, me and Cato kissed. It was an accident of course, we were arguing and it was just a "in the moment" type of thing. But when we kissed, I've never felt anything like it. Thats when I realized that I was in love with Cato. But he'll never know. I can't tell him now, in just a few days we might have to kill each other.


	2. Chapter 2

CATO'S POV

I can't believe I just did that. I completely broke down in front of Clove. I sigh as I sit down on the couch thats in front of the television. Clove sits beside me. Arnold walks in with a man and woman behind him. I could easily tell that they were our mentors, Enobaria and Brutus. They have won the games before, they'll give us tips that could hopefully save one of our lives. Clove and I stand up quickly and shake hands with them. "I'm Cato" I say. "I'm Clove" I hear Clove say to them in quiet voice that doesn't sound like her very much. I can tell somethings on her mind… "You two ready to scope out the competition?" Brutus asks. We both nod and the 3 sit in chairs beside the couch. Me and Clove sit back down and the lights go dim. I look around to see who did it, but they're all still sitting. Must be some weird Capitol button they pressed. The television turns on and we're watching the reaping from District 1. The boy looks pretty strong, his names Marvel. But the girl, Glimmer, looks like a doll. She is gorgeous, but she looks like she can't defend herself in any way. "We want you two to form an alliance with them at the tribute parade okay?" Brutus says. We nod and turn our attention back to the screen. About an hour passes and we've watched up to District 10. All the tributes from the other districts look puny and weak. I could take out any of them with my bare hands. We're finally up to 11. The male tribute they chose, I think his names Thresh, looks pretty big. He would be a tough one to take out but I could handle him. The tiny, 12 year old female tribute named Rue that they chose will definitely not make it past the blood bath. Finally, we're up to District 12. The tributes from 12 are always the worst every year. The one victor that they have still alive is a drunk. I see him stumble out onto the stage, that glassy look in his eyes. Their escort calls out the name of the female tribute, Primrose Everdeen. You see yet another 12 year old step into the aisle and make her way to the stage. "I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute" you hear a voice yell. Then you see a girl, probably a little bit younger than me.. hug the little girl and make her way on stage. The escort asks what her name is and she says "Katniss Everdeen" almost with no emotion whatsoever. Oh so that was her sister. How cute. Not. They soon call the male tribute, his name's Peeta. He looks like nothing special. The television turns off and the lights turn back on. "Oh wow, wow, wow! It's 10 o clock. You two should get to bed" Arnold says. I stretch and stand up. "We'll discuss strategies and training in the morning. Get a good night's sleep" Enobaria says and me and Clove make our way back to our rooms. I hear the door from the main room shut which means Enobaria, Brutus and Arnold went into the other train car. I put on some pajama pants and a plain white t shirt and open my door. I was just about to go into Cloves room when I bump into her. "Oh I was just going to come into your room" she whispered with a soft laugh. "Alright then come on" I said and she followed me back to my room. She was wearing pajama shorts and a tank top. I closed the door quietly and she sat on my bed. I can tell somethings wrong. She looks pale again, like she did at the reaping. "Whats bothering you Clove?" I ask her. She sighs and says "I was thinking, um, I know we have to be in an alliance with 1. But I've decided that I'm going to leave it during the games, so you don't have to kill me and I don't have to kill you. I want you to win. I want you to go home Cato".

CLOVE'S POV

It takes Cato a few seconds to answer me and he finally says, "No, Clove. I won't let you do that. You're not going to give up your life for me". I sighed and said "Yes I am. One of us has to win and I want that to be you. You deserve it Cato". What I actually mean is if he dies and I win, I won't have anything to live for. Yes, I'll have my parents but they can live without me. I barely get to see them anyway. "Clove, you don't understand. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you got killed so I could win. It would make me go insane. I won't let you do it" he says. I sighed and I open my mouth to say something but I can't because Cato's lips have crashed on to mine. This is the most intense kiss we've ever had. I pull away and stand up. "Clove I-I'm sorry I.." he says, shocked by his own actions. I pace around the room, trying to decide how I feel about the situation. Yes, I am happy. Of course I am. Cato just kissed me. But I'm confused too. Confused because he could somehow be using this to reel me in and kill me in the arena. Make me fall for him, follow him around in the games until it comes down to the two of us and he kills me. It's probably happened before in previous games too. I have to think on the bad side, all the negatives. You cannot trust anyone in the games. He stands up and takes both of my hands. He looks me in the eyes and says "You know what? I'll die for you Clove. You deserve this. Not me. No arguments, its final. You'll be the one winning". I nod and he kisses me again. Even though he said "its final", its really not. He will be the one winning. I will make sure of it. I don't want to start an argument so I just agree. He pulls away and goes to lay down in his bed. "Goodnight Cato. I'll see you tomorrow" I say, as I open the door. He smiles and says "Night Clover" and turns over. Clover is this stupid nickname that he always calls me. He's called me it since we were little. I closed the door behind me and tiptoed into my room. I got into bed and slowly drifted off into sleep. It feels like I've been asleep for not even an hour when I'm awoken by someone opening my door and immediately closing it. I open my eyes a little and see Cato, slipping his big, stocky self into my bed. I smile to myself and close my eyes again. I snuggle up closer to him, putting my head in his chest. "Don't pretend your asleep, I know you're awake" he says with a laugh. I laugh and try to move away from him but he grips my waist and pulls me close to him again. For a moment I almost felt like we were at home again, not on our way to the Capitol to soon be in the games. He still has his hands around my waist and he's looking down at me. I can feel his eyes burning a hole into the top of my head. I finally look up at him and ask, "What do you want?". He laughs, lifts my chin up and kisses me. I kiss him back and I guess you could say we were making out after a while. I feel Cato's hands trailing up my tank top and he bites my lip. I pull away and take his hands out from under my shirt. "We're not having sex Cato" I say and sit up. I pull my shirt back down and fold my arms across my chest. He shuts his eyes tight as if he's in pain and sighs. I get out of bed and go into the bathroom. He follows me. "Is that all you want from me?" I ask him. He immediately shakes his head no and says "Clove you mean so much to me. I don't just want you for sex, I just thought you know.. We could blow off some steam". He slides his arms around my waist again, which wasn't such a good idea. I elbow him just above his you know, area, and he falls to the ground. "Someone's a little cranky today huh?" he says in a raspy voice, still laying on the ground. I roll my eyes and get dressed quickly before he can see. I go out into the main room, leaving Cato in the bathroom, and see a huge breakfast prepared. Enobaria, Brutus and Arnold are already sitting down and I join them. "Good morning!" Arnold says cheerfully. I nod and smile. Cato soon comes out to join us and sits next to me. An avox serves me and Cato a bowl of what looks like throw up. I suck it up and eat it anyway, surprisingly it tastes good. I think its some kind of fancy Capitol soup. "We'll be in the Capitol in about 15 minutes. So eat up!" Arnold says to us. We nod and continue eating whatever the avox hands to us. "So do you two have any special skills?" Enobaria asks us. "Of course they do Enobaria, they've been training since before they were 10. They've got to have something they're good at" Brutus says. I speak up and say "Well I'm good with knives". Brutus almost spits up his juice. "You? _You're _good with knives? Thats funny" he laughs. This irritates me beyond belief and I pick up the knife next to me and throw it at the wall just above his head. Enobaria's eyes widen and Arnold almost jumps out of his skin. Brutus says "Alright, well I guess your strength is knives.. What about you Cato?". Even I don't know what Cato's special skill is. He's so good at everything he does. He answers, "Well I don't know, I'm good with swords and spears. I used to rip those dummies apart back home in training". Brutus nods and takes a bite of some sort of pastry. "Don't pay attention to those stupid stations in the training center like knot tying, camouflage and how to start a fire. They're a waste of time, show off your skills to the other tributes. Make them afraid of you" Enobaria says. We both nod. Knot tying is stupid, who doesn't know how to tie knots? "Also, make sure you give the audience a good show when you're killing someone. Thats what gets you sponsors. Take your time with the kill, show no mercy" she said as she took another sip of her water. "Don't take your time in the Cornucopia though, those kills should be a quick slit of the throat or stab in the stomach. You just want to kill as many tributes as you can and get the hell out of there" Brutus adds in. Cato puts his drink down and stands up, walking over to the window. "Whoah" I hear him say. I get up and go over to the window too and it goes black. I guess we're in some sort of tunnel or something. Soon we're out and we see the Capitol. Its huge and its actually so amazing. Looks better than it does on the television. We're almost at a stop when we see a huge crowd of people from the Capitol. They're all dressed so weird and they're screaming our names. I look up at Cato who's already waving to them without a smile. Thats right, we have to show our tough exterior. I start to wave too, the crowds going crazy. "Alright you two, lets get off the train and to our rooms!" Arnold says. We walk away from the window and soon we're outside, stuck in the crowd. Peacekeepers are pushing the crowd apart so we can get through. We finally make it to the elevators of this huge building. Arnold presses the "2" and the elevator starts to move. We're there in not even 30 seconds and Arnold starts on our schedule for the next 3 days. "Today you're going to the tribute parade, you'll meet your stylists in a few minutes. Then tomorrow you'll be in the training center. Then the day after that you'll go for a training session with Brutus and Enobaria and then you'll be evaluated by the gamemakers in the afternoon" he says quickly. Me and Cato ignore him as he keeps telling us our schedule and we start to walk around our floor. Its beautiful, most of it is made out of glass. There's a huge window on the right of me, I look down and see the town square. There's avoxes everywhere and then I see 5 doors down a hallway. The first door says "Tribute 1" and the next says "Tribute 2". I guess thats where me and Cato's rooms will be. The next 3 doors have nothing on them, so I guess Enobaria, Brutus and Arnold get to pick their rooms. I open the door that says "Tribute 1" on it and the room is just as great as everything else. The bed is huge and theres another big, glass window. I'm looking around the room in awe until I feel hands tightly grip my waist. I don't even bother to turn around because I know its Cato. I feel him breathing on my neck and he gives me goosebumps. I sigh and ask "What do you want Cato?". He just laughs and lets go of me, plopping down on the bed. He opens his mouth to say something until he's interrupted by Arnold who's yelling for us to come meet our stylists. We both go back into the room with the big window and we see two people, our stylists, dressed more weird than probably everyone in the town square put together. They introduce themselves, my stylist is named Puck and Cato's is Kira. They show us what we're going to be wearing. Cato's wearing gold armor and so am I. Except mine is in a dress form.. Other than that our outfits look pretty much the same. They start the preparations on us and soon enough, every inch of hair on my body thats not supposed to be there is gone. My scars are gone, cuts are gone and every little blemish on me is gone too. They finally fish with me and they put me into my outfit. It looks almost exactly the same as it did in the sketch. Its almost time to go to the parade so they take me to the elevator to wait for Cato and the others who are coming along. Cato walks out after a few minutes. It looks like they put some kind of oil on his muscles so they could stand out. We get into the elevator and Arnold immediately tells us what to do. "Don't smile, just wave and keep your heads up high. Look tough. You two need sponsors!" he says and claps his hands together. The elevator doors open and we're soon surrounded by the other tributes. They lead us over to our chariot and I remember we have to make an alliance with 1. "Lets go over to 1 really quick" I say to Cato. He nods and we walk over to them. They're dressed in a pink, feathery number. Probably because their district does luxury. "Hi, I'm Cato. This is Clove" he gestures to me and shakes hands with the two. I keep a straight face and shake their hands as well. "We wanted to know if you two would be in an alliance with us" Cato says. The girl and boy look at each other and nod. "Sure we would. Isn't that how it goes every year?" the girl says with a smile. I can already tell I'm not going to like her. "Oh and by the way, I'm Glimmer and this is Marvel. See you two in the training center" she says and flips her hair over her shoulder. Cato shakes hands with Marvel again and we walk back over to our chariot. We both step inside and we see District 1's chariot begin to move. I take a deep breath and look over at Cato. He gives me a half smile like he always does and soon enough our chariot takes off behind 1's. We're soon surrounded by people. Chanting, screaming our names. Some screaming Marvel and Glimmer's names. It's absolutely crazy. I glance over at Cato again and he's already looking at me. I give him a sort of sinister smile just in case the cameras are on us. He does the same to me and then he looks away. We're both waving, the crowd's loving us. Then I realize its not us that they're cheering for. I look up at the big screen thats above me and its on the District 12 tributes. They're on fire. The crowd's loving it. This gets me really mad and I just want to jump out of the chariot and kill them both. But I guess I'll just have to wait for the arena for that..


End file.
